Thursday, June 3, 2010

happy birthday allen ginsberg - 84 years old in heaven today!



allen ginsberg was born june 3, 1926, and would have been 84 years old today. he died in 1997 at the age of 70 - and was already a legend in his time. ginsberg, together with jack kerouac and william burroughs, was a founding member of the beat generation. his landmark epic, "howl" redefined the boundaries of poetic expression - and became part of the landmark battle against literary censorship in the 1950's.

but ginsberg was much more than a poet, he was an agent provocateur for all things artistic (and beyond). during the course of his life he traveled, wrote prose, kept diaries, photographed, set his poems to music, performed those poems/songs, and helped out countless artists over all those years to pursue their works.

ginsberg is one of my favorite poets. my favorite image of him is from a performance to celebrate walt whitman in brooklyn heights during the early 1990's. i've been a fan of allen ginsberg for decades. spend some time reading ginsberg today!

happy birthday allen (in heaven, or the void - your choice)!!

1 comment:

The Sunflower Collective said...

"The weight of the world is love.
Under the burden of solitude,
under the burden of dissatisfaction
the weight,the weight we carry is love."

Thanks Alan,for showing the way!

and Thank You Mr writer for the post.

peace from india